Martelli Fine Art is delighted to present “Forma / Colore” in collaboration with NP Art Lab.
The exhibition explores the use of color as a primary element in artistic research, in dialogue with the two-dimensional forms of painting and the three-dimensional ones of sculpture. Techniques of overlapping color are used to explore the effects of depth and movement in works by Dorazio, Consagra, and Benevelli.
The exhibition space, located in the prestigious Palazzo Cicogna at Corso Monforte 23, was born from the desire to combine the sensibilities of two gallerists in order to offer a fresh, new perspective on Milan’s artistic landscape.

Piero Dorazio, Pietro Consagra and Giacomo Benevelli, while all prominent figures in the post-war italian art scene, approached form and color from distinct, yet complementary perspectives.
Dorazio’s work was defined by his mastery of color as the primary vehicle of expression. His paintings, often composed of interwoven grids and luminous hues, embraced abstraction as a means of communicating pure emotion and rhythm. For Dorazio, color was not only a visual element, but a structural force shaping the entire composition of his works. This exhibition features paintings made in the early 1960s, which the artist himself called “trame” (known to us as reticoli). These are followed by large canvases from the 1970s, characterised by their expansive dimensions. Bands of colour expand into space according to ever-changing geometries. It is a renewal of shapes of colour as a material. In 1985, during a conversation with Adachiara Zevi, Piero Dorazio stated: “The structure that others call a reticolo is actually a superimposition of parameters. The vertical, the force of gravity; the horizontal, the line of the horizon; and the diagonal, indicative of our route. These are the three directions of our existence.”

In contrast, both Consagra and Benevelli, as sculptors, approached form as their central concern. Consagra, particularly through his “frontal sculpture” concept, reduced form to flat, vertical planes that were meant to engage the viewer from a singular perspective. His works, though abstract, often conveyed a sense of weight and immediacy, prioritizing form over the color, which played a secondary, often subdued, role. This exhibition features two works form the series Controluce from 1998.

Benevelli, on the other hand, embraced smooth, flowing forms, often rooted in organic shapes, and played with the interaction between light and shadow rather than focusing on vivid color palettes.
When viewed together, the work of these three artists presents a dialogue between the sculptural and the painterly, where form and color shift in prominence. Dorazio’s vibrant use of color contrasts with Consagra’s and Benevelli’s more restrained palettes, yet all three artists shared a commitment to abstraction and modernism. While Dorazio’s focus was on creating visual harmony through the dynamic play of color and line, Consagra and Benevelli concentrated on the physicality of the sculptural form, aiming to redefine space and the viewer’s interaction with their work. In essence, Dorazio’s work can be seen as an exploration of space through color, while Consagra and Benevelli engaged space more directly through form. This distinction illustrates their respective contributions to the evolution of post-war Italian abstraction, where the boundaries between painting and sculpture were continually being redefined.